Door closer



I May 30, 1933.

M. KusHNE-R' DOOR CLOSER Filed Jan.

,' INVENTOR Max Kushner ATTORNE'Y the door actuating Patented May 30,1933 HA1 KUSHNEB, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO DOOR CLOSER Application filedJanuary 13, 1983. Serial No. 851,533.

This invention relates to door closers and has for its object to providea simple and inexpensive device for automatically returning a door toclosed position, which employs no springs and which is actuated solelyby fluid pressure.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door closer in whichthe actuating mechanism operates against fluid pressure when moved 1neither direction from a neutral position and is ada ted to be appliedwithout alteration or a justment to either ri ht or left hand doors, andwhich is suitalfie for use on doors mounted to swing either in or out.

A further object of the invention is to provide a fluid pressureactuating device in the form of a small compact unit adapted to bemounted on a door or door casing, which is ca able of developing ampleower for positively closing the door and w ich is capable of operationfor a long period of time without attention.

A further object of the invention is to make the action of the fluidpressure device more positive and to eliminate leakage by em loying aflexible actuating and further to provide means or so guiding andsupporting the dia hragm that the diaphragm is not distorte or subjectedto excessive stresses in transmitting its thrust to connections or inreceiving the thrust o thedoor actuating connections. e

A further object of the invention is to provide a compactly housed doorclosing mechanism which comprises few parts, which can be quickly andeasily assembled or taken apart.

With the above and other objects in view the invention may be said tocomprise the device as illustrated drawing hereinafter described andpartieu-,

larly set forth in the appended claims, to-

gether with such variations and modifications thereof as will beapparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention appertains.

er Reference-should be had to the accomdia 11 a v p r tu'atlng mechanismand is exerted mthe opin the accompanying panying-dr'awing forming apart of this specification, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentar front elevation showing the door closer o theresent invention applied to the door, t 0 interior actuating mechanismbeing shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is atop unit; I

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line indicated at 3-3 in Fig. 1.

In the accompanyin drawing, there is shown a door closer emmdying thepresent invention in which the actuating umt is in the form of an airtight housing 1 provided with attachin flanges 2 by which it may besecured to a cor 3. Journalled in the upper end of the housing 1 thereis a shaft 4 to which is fixed an actuating arm 5 which is connected bya link 6 to a bracket 7 attached to a door lintel 8. 1

is common practice in door closing de-' vices, the actuating arm 5 isturned, and with it the shaft 3 and mechanism actuated thereby upon theopening of the door and the power exerted upon the arm 5 during theopening movement is stored in the acplan view-of the actuating positsdirection upon release ofthe door to swing the door to closed position.

The housing 1 has a cup shaped bottom section 9 which is provided withan outwardl projecting peripheral flange 10 at the top t ereof and atubular top section 11 whic is provided with a peripheral outwardl' proecting flange 12 at its lower end which is attached to the flange 10 ofthe bottom section by means of bolts 13. The upper end of the housin 1is closed by a head 12 which is secured by tubular section 11. I I

A flexible diaphragm 16 in the form'of a cupped disk is clamped at'itsmargin between the flanges 10 and 12 of the lower and upper sections ofthe housing, and rovides A within the housing two airtight c 'ambers 17and 18. The lower chamber 17 contains referabl in'an". the c amber itslowermost a liquid such'as glycerin, amount to substantially when thediaphragm 16 is in Its 15 to the upper end of the v 45 u per sidethereof durin passage of iquid to the under Y position. The upperchamber 18 is partially lled by the liquid 20 such as glycerin, theamount of liquid in the upper chamber being preferably somewhat lessthan the capacity of the chamber when the diaphragm 16 is in itsuppermost position so as not to mterfere with the movement of thediaphragm throughout its entire range. The dia hragm 16 is impervious tothe passage 0 air or 1i uid, and preferably consists of an interior ruber disk 21 and u per and lower disks 22 of leather attache to therubber disk. The diaphragm 16 is of dished or cup form so that thecentral portion thereof may moved vertically from a downwardly bowed toan upwardly bowed position. v

, Since fluid pressure acting upon the diaphragm 16 is transmitted tothe door actuating mechanism and the mechanism exerts ,adirect thrustupon the diaphragm in oposition to the fluid pressure acting thereon, itis important preventing distortion of the diaphragm which would createlocal stresses in the material thereof due to the mechanical thrust, andthat means be provided for limiting the vertical movements of thecentral portion bf the diaphragm to avoid excessive tensile stressesthereon. For guiding, supporting 0 and limiting the movement of thecentral portion of the diaphra m, a piston 23 is clamped against the uner side of the central portion of the diaphragm by means of a bolt 24which extends h the dithroug aphragm and p1ston,-which has a shoulder 25enga 'ng the to of the diaphragm a pro-' hove the shoulder 25 andjecting ead 26 a a nut 27 at its lower end which is positioned in arecess on the under side of t e piston. The piston 23 may engage thebottom of the housing section 9 to limit the downward movement of thediaphragm and is provided with passages 28- to allow from the undersideof tthe e iston to the escent of the plston, and side of the pistonduring the lipward movement of the piston.

The actuatin shaft 4 extends through the head 14 into e upper chamber 18and is 1ournalled in a boss. 29 formed inte rally with the head 14.Leakage ofair or uid throu h the shaft bearing is prevents by a pac 'n30 within the boss 29. The upper 6 end of e shaft 4 is splined toreceive the arm 5 so that the arm 5 may be arly ad usted upon the shaft.Fixed to t e lower end of he shaft 3 within the chamber 18, there isfixed a bevel pinion 32'which meshes with a bevel gear 33 rotatablymounted on a stub shaft 34 which is secured by a pin 35 in a boss 36formed integrally with the wall of the upper section 11 of the housing.The boss'36 is bored to receive shaft 34 3 and the outer end of the boremay be closed P with thebottom of the housing,

be this dead center that means be provided for sition.

slight y assage of liquid,

by a threaded plu cape of air or liqui from the chamber. The bevel gear33 has rigidly secured thereto an eccentric in. which IOJBCtS from theinner face of t e ar. 0 this pin is pivoted the u per en of the link 39,which is connecte at its lower end b a ivot pin 40, to the projectingend 26 o the It 24. The link 39 is of a length such that when the iston23 is substantially in engagement the pin '38 is in dead center positiond1rectly below the shaft 34. It wil be apparent that from osition tiliaphragm 16 wi I be raised upon rotating movement of the shaft 3 ineither" direction, so that by properly positioning the arni5 on theshaft 3 the device may be applied either to a right hand or a left handdoor.

It will also be apparent that if the pin 38 is in dead center positionwhen the door is closed, the door may swmg ineither direc- 39 whichprevents es-- e piston 23 and tion' from its closed position, and uponopen-.

ing ofkthe door in either direction the diaphragm will be raised,creating a vacuum in the chamber 17 and subjecting the. air inbeeflective'to return the oor Door closers are more often applied,howich will to closed po- 3 ever, to doors opening in one directiononly, I

and in some instances considerable pressure is required at the end ofthe closing move- 'ment to latch the door. 'When" a final closingpressure is necessary, it may be obtained in the device of the presentinvention by adjustin the arm 5 so that the piston 23 is above thebottom of the housing in the closed position of the door.

In order to prevent slammin of the door, means is provided for checkingthe final closing movement. The checking device is a dash pot consistingof asmall c linder 41 formed integrally with the we and the housingsection 11, and this cylinder is pro-- vided with an inlet opening 42inits wall above the bottom of t e g inder and with an outlet 0 ning 43 ine bottom of the cylinder. regulatin screw 44 projects into the opening43. is screw is provided with a head 45 outside the housing and with alock nut 46- by which it may be secured in adjusted position. By meansof the screw 44, the size of the outlet 0 ning 43- may be regulated asdesired. T e piston 47 1s nlilounted to slide in the cylinder 41, and tot e up secure an L-shapedarm which is attached at its lower end to the(pivot pin 40, so that the piston47 is cause to move upwardly anddownwardly with the diaphragm.

When a door is swung to open position the iston 47 is raised above theinlet 42, the liquid flows from the chamber 18 to the inr end of thispiston there is rigidly .may be 7 by reason of the fact t terior ofthecylinder 41. During the closing movement of the door, the piston 47moves down past the inlet 42, and after the inlet 42 is closed by thepiston a body of liquid is trap d at the lower end of the cylinder 41.he trapped liquid escapes through the opening 43 which may be adjuste toregulate the speed of movement of the piston 47 and consequently thespeed of movement of the door as it approaches closing position. Thereis a fluid pressure resisting the initial upward movement of the piston47 as the door is being opened due to the small size of the opening 43,but since the piston 47 is a very small piston the added drag upon thedoor during its initial opening movement due to this piston will be veryslight.

When the door 3 is in closed position the piston 23 and eccentric pin 38are at or near their lowermost positions as shown in Figs. 1 and 3.Movement of the door 3 toward open position actuates arm 5, shaft 4 andpinion 32 to turn the gear 33 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig.1, elevating the link 39 and the central portion of the diaphragm 16 towhich the link is attached. Upward movement of the diaphragm 16increases the volume ,of the chamber 17 which tends to create a vacuum.At the same time the volume of the chamber 18'is diminished, putting theair above the surface of the liquid under compression. The opening ofthe door thus imposes a fluid pressure on the diaphragm16 dueprincipally to sub-atmospheric pressure in the lower chamber 17 and tosome extent to compression of the air in the top of the chamber 18. Uponrelease of the door this fluid pressure on the diaphragm acts to forcethe diaphragm back to its original position and close the door.

In assembling the device, the iston 23 with the diaphragm 16 attached tereto by the bolt 24 is placed in the lower housing section 9 and withthe piston 23 resting on the bottom the s ace beneath the diaphragm isfilled with a iquid such as lycerin, and the upper section 11 is then ofthe margin of the diaphragm. The gear 33 and link 39 and the piston 47and arm 48 assembled together and mounted within the section 11 eitherbefore or after attachment of the section 11 to the section 9. The link39 and arm 48 are then attached to the 24 by means 0 the pin 40. Thechamber 18 is then filled to the desired height with a liquid such asglycerin, after which the head 14 with shaft 4 and pinion 32 in placethereon is secured to th upper end of the section 11.

The chamber 17 is diaphragm is" tightly clamped between the flanges 10and .12, by reason of the fact that amped uponprojecting head 26 of thebolt uite effectively sealed. at the margin of the the top of thediaphragm is covered at all 7 times with liquid and by reason of thefact that the diaphragm is so constructed that it is impervious topassage of liquid through the body thereof. The diaphragm thus providesa movable actuator directly subjected to fluid pressure which is notsubject to loss of effectiveness due to leakage of fluid past theactuator, a difliculty inherent in actuators of the sliding piston type.

Since a nearly perfect vacuum is quickly established beneath thediaphragm 16 upon upward movement thereof a heavy thrust is quicklyimposed on thegear 33 and connecting ink 39. The material of thediaphragm 16 is not, however, subjected to excessive stresses due to thefact that the link is connected to the diaphragm through the bolt'24which clamps the diaphragm to the piston 23 which guides the movement ofthe central portion of the diaphragm.

The lower chamber 17 is the main actuating cham'ber from which entry ofair or liquid is positively excluded. It is not necessary, however, thatspecial packing or other means be provided for keeping the chamber 18absolutely air tight, 'since slow leakage of air into or out of the,upper portion of the chamber 18 will not materially affect theoperation, the pressure of the air above the liquid being atsubstantially atmos heric pressure when the door is closed.

T e bevel gearing and connecting link within the upper chamber 18 areeffectively lubricated by the liquid in the chamber and due to the factthat nearly full atmospheric pressure is effective on the diaphragmthroughout its range of movement, the diaphragm need have only a smallrange of movement. The entire mechanism can, therefore, be housed withina small compact housing and will operate effectively for ong periodswithout attention.

What I claim is:

1. In a door closer, a casing, a shaft having an actuating arm outsidethe casing and journalled in the casing at one end thereof, an airtightchamber within the casing having a wall in the form of a flexiblediaphragm having a linearly movable central portion, and motiontransmitting means interconnectin the shaft and diaphragm for actuationeit er b the other and acting torsionall on the s aft and linearly onthe movab e portion of the diaphragm.

2. Ina door closer, an angularly movable shaft having an actuating armattached "thereto, a fluid tight chamber spaced from.

an end of the shaft and having a flexible diaphragm wall which has acentral portion movable linearly in the direction of the shaft axis, andmeans interconnecting the angularly movable shaft and axially mova-' bleportion of the diaphragm for actuation either by the other.

' shaft having an actuatin and clamp said diap the angularly movableshaft and axially I movable shaft liquid, an axially disposed projectinginto pot device for retardingmovement and vertically movable anangularly movable arm attached thereto, a fluid tight cham er spaced.from an end of the shaft and having a flexible diaphragm wall which hasa central portion movable linearly in the direction of the shaft axis, apiston slidable within said chamber (1 against the central portion ofagm, and means interconnecting 3; In a door closer,

movable portion of the diaphragm for actuation either by the other;

4. In a door closer, an angularly movable shaft having an actuatin armattache thereto, a fluid tight cham r spaced from an end of the shaftand having a flexible diaphragm wall which has a central portion pmovable linearly in the direction of the shaft axis, a dash potconnected to the movable portion of the diaphragm for retarding themovement of the diaphragm in one direction, and means interconnectingthe angularly and axially movable ortion for actuation .eit ver by aflexible of the diaphragm the other.

. 5. In a door closer, a casing; diaphragm forminga partition ediaphragm forming a partition tween upnected to the central portion ofthe diad jecting mto the upper of said chambers, a

piston in the lower chamber rigidly connected to the central ortion othe diahragm, a member rigi ly connected to the iston and projectinginto the upper chamer, a bevel pinion fixed to the lower end of saidshaft, a bevel gear meshing with said pinion, and a. link pivoted at itslower end tedtothe to said pro'ecting member and at its upper endeccentrically to'said ear.

In testimony whereof afiix rpjv signature.

MAX' K SHNER.

per and lower chambers in said casing and having a vertically movablecentral portion, said chambers being partially filled with wall of thecasing and in the upper end upper of said chambers,

the a dash of the diaphragm in one direction including a cylinder in oneof said chambers having an 1nlet to receive liguid from the chamber, apiston and an out et, means accessible from the exterior of the casingfor varying the shaft journalled I size of the discharge opening, andmeans movable shaft ortion. of the diaphragm for actuation eit er by theother.

6. n a door closer, a casing, a diaphragm forminga partition'betweenupinterconn ecting the angularly per and lower chambers in said casingand the uppe vertically movable central portion,

liquid, an axially disposed shaft journalled v1n the upper end wall ofthe casing and pro ecting into the upper of gears disposed in drivingrelation within r chamber, one o fixed to-said shaft, and a link connecthe central portion of said diaphragm and eccentricall to one of saidgears.

7. Ina oor closer, a casin diaphragm forming a partition tween up 'r andlower chambers in said casing and aving a vertically movable centralportion, said chambers being partially filled with liquid, an axiallydisposed shaft'journalled 1n the upper end wall of the casing andprojecting into the upper of said chambers, a piston in the lowerchamber rigidly consaid gears being ayingha said c ambers beingpartially filled with said chambers,

